Lev Aronian Wins Tata Steel 2012

An anti-climactic repetition of moves in what was hoped would be the crowning duel of the final round in one of the most combative chess events in recent years, earned Armenia’s Levon Aronian an unshared 10,000-euro first prize in the 74th annual Tata Steel Tournament at the wintry resort town of Wijk-aan-Zee Sunday.

Playing white against Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan – one of his main rivals in the field of fourteen - Aronian came up with an innocuous line of the Gruenfeld, followed theory for ten moves and then initiated the repetition that ended the game two moves later.

He wrote down the intended (but not executed) 13.Ne5 on his score-sheet, looked up at Radjabov and nodded, after which the two GMs shook hands. Speaking to reporters after their short sojourn in the tournament arena, both players stressed that there had been no deals of any kind beforehand.

“No, no,” said Aronian, “I really came to play today. I was prepared for a fight but when Teimour allowed the repetition of moves, I was glad to take the draw, of course.” His lack of pugnacity “actually came as a pleasant surprise for me.”

And Radjabov explained: “I was surprised by Aronian’s choice for an opening. I had expected him to go for a win in an effort to reach first place on FIDE’s world rating list, and prepared for a completely different line. I ended up slightly worse with black and a draw was fine with me. I was happy to be the only player to remain unbeaten.”

At a press conference later in the day, Aronian said the tournament victory was his “best result so far. Sure, I’ve had some other good tournaments, but winning in Wijk-aan-Zee is very special, because, after all, this tournament is for chess what Wimbledon is for tennis. This year’s edition was very interesting, with several young players who had something to prove. Many games were fighting games, and, of course, there are bound to be mistakes in such games.”

Earlier, Aronian put in an appearance at the commentary pavilion on the town commons, where he told the audience that he was quite happy with his tournament record of seven wins, four draws and two losses. When asked whether he ought not to have tried and gone for a win in his final-round game in an effort to come alongside Magnus Carlsen on top of the world ranking list, Aronian replied: “I want to win tournaments and become World Champion, but a first place on any rating list, FIDE’s or any other, doesn’t interest me at all.”

Radjabov’s final score of 8 points - for his unbeaten tournament record of three wins and ten draws - kept him one point below Aronian’s 9 and was not enough for an unshared second place in the final Group-A standings. The Azeri GM could lay claim to only one-third of the combined 13,000 euros for the second, third and fourth prizes. The remaining two thirds went to Norway’s Carlsen and Italy’s Fabiano Caruana.

Carlsen, black in a Stonewall against Holland’s Loek van Wely, gave it a valiant try for 41 moves, but got no further than a small advantage and in the end proposed to sign the peace himself. With Aronian and Radjabov agreeing on a draw so soon, Carlsen said he “had pretty much given up hope to play for first place anyway. Although … well … they can do what they want, of course … and if they want to make a draw, well I guess that’s okay … although I was a little bit surprised that Radjabov didn’t even try. I suppose he was happy with the outcome.”

Asked about his performance, Carlsen said: “I played really well in the first three rounds and all went okay until the seventh round. After that, it was a total mess. In the end, I was even lucky to finish at plus 3.” He added that he hoped to be invited for next year’s jubilee tournament. “We’ll have to see, of course … but I’ve been here nine times in a row, so it would be a shame to miss out next year,” Carlsen said.

Caruana earned a 500-euro bonus on top of his share of the prize fund, as GM Ivan Sokolov picked his victory in 48 moves with white from a Petroff Defense against Israel’s Boris Gelfand for this year’s final ‘Piet Zwart Prize’. “Nice,” Caruana said. “I mean, it’s always nice to win, but this one was really very welcome. It was probably a draw for quite some time but somewhere Boris went wrong and I profited.”

In the longest Group-A game of the day, U.S. Champion Gata Kamsky ground down Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov in 71 moves from a Queen’s Pawn opening, in which the black-player, clearly not on form throughout the tournament, seriously mishandled the middle game.

The three other encounters –Gashimov-Nakamura, Ivanchuk-Karjakin and Giri-Navara were all relatively quickly drawn.

The final standings in Group A:

Aronian, Levon

ARM

2805

*

0

½

1

½

1

1

1

½

1

½

1

0

1

9

Carlsen, Magnus

NOR

2835

1

*

½

½

½

½

½

0

½

1

1

1

½

½

8

Radjabov, Teimour

AZE

2773

½

½

*

½

½

½

½

1

½

½

½

1

1

½

8

Caruana, Fabiano

ITA

2736

0

½

½

*

½

½

½

1

½

1

1

½

½

1

8

Ivanchuk, Vassily

UKR

2766

½

½

½

½

*

½

½

½

½

0

½

1

1

1

7½

Nakamura, Hikaru

USA

2759

0

½

½

½

½

*

½

½

1

1

½

½

1

½

7½

Kamsky, Gata

USA

2732

0

½

½

½

½

½

*

1

½

½

1

½

1

0

7

Karjakin, Sergey

RUS

2769

0

1

0

0

½

½

0

*

1

0

1

½

1

1

6½

Van Wely, Loek

NED

2692

½

½

½

½

½

0

½

0

*

½

½

½

½

½

5½

Gelfand, Boris

ISR

2739

0

0

½

0

1

0

½

1

½

*

½

½

½

0

5

Topalov, Veselin

BUL

2770

½

0

½

0

½

½

0

0

½

½

*

½

½

1

5

Gashimov, Vugar

AZE

2761

0

0

0

½

0

½

½

½

½

½

½

*

½

1

5

Navara, David

CZE

2712

1

½

0

½

0

0

0

0

½

½

½

½

*

½

4½

Giri, Anish

NED

2714

0

½

½

0

0

½

1

0

½

1

0

0

½

*

4½

In Group B, the ‘Piet-Zwart Prize’ – funded by the municipalities of Velsen and Beverwijk – went to Cuba’s Lazaro Bruzon for his win in 24 moves with black from a Reti opening against Holland’s Sipke Ernst. The 3,000-euro first prize in this group went to India’s Pentala Harikrishna, who added a draw against Holland’s Dimitri Reinderman to a tournament record of six wins, six draws and one loss.

The results of the last round in Group B:

Harikrishna, Pentala

½-½

Reinderman, Dimitri

Ernst, Sipke

0-1

Bruzon Batista, Lazaro

Vocaturo, Daniele

½-½

Lahno, Kateryna

Nyzhnyk, Illya

1-0

Harika, Dronavalli

Tiviakov, Sergei

1-0

Cmilyte, Viktorija

Potkin, Vladimir

1-0

L'Ami, Erwin

Timman, Jan H

½-½

Motylev, Alexander

The final standings in Group B:

Harikrishna, Pentala

IND

2665

*

½

1

½

½

½

1

½

1

0

1

1

½

1

9

Motylev, Alexander

RUS

2677

½

*

½

½

1

½

½

½

½

1

1

1

½

½

8½

Bruzon Batista, Lazaro

CUB

2691

0

½

*

½

½

½

0

1

1

1

½

1

1

1

8½

L'Ami, Erwin

NED

2596

½

½

½

*

1

½

½

0

½

0

1

1

1

1

8

Tiviakov, Sergei

NED

2677

½

0

½

0

*

1

½

1

1

0

1

½

1

1

8

Reinderman, Dimitri

NED

2581

½

½

½

½

0

*

1

0

1

1

½

1

½

½

7½

Nyzhnyk, Illya

UKR

2568

0

½

1

½

½

0

*

½

0

½

1

1

1

1

7½

Potkin, Vladimir

RUS

2684

½

½

0

1

0

1

½

*

½

0

½

½

½

1

6½

Timman, Jan H

NED

2571

0

½

0

½

0

0

1

½

*

1

½

½

1

½

6

Ernst, Sipke

NED

2606

1

0

0

1

1

0

½

1

0

*

0

0

0

½

5

Lahno, Kateryna

UKR

2557

0

0

½

0

0

½

0

½

½

1

*

½

½

½

4½

Vocaturo, Daniele

ITA

2545

0

0

0

0

½

0

0

½

½

1

½

*

1

½

4½

Cmilyte, Viktorija

LTU

2503

½

½

0

0

0

½

0

½

0

1

½

0

*

½

4

Harika, Dronavalli

IND

2516

0

½

0

0

0

½

0

0

½

½

½

½

½

*

3½

Russia’s Maxim Turov defeated Holland’s Etienne Goudriaan in final-round action Sunday to finish an unshared first in Group C. Sweden’s Hans Tikkanen, level with Turov at the outset of the round, was held to a draw by India’s Tania Sachdev and had to settle for second place.

The 100 euros set aside for the day-prize in this section o the tournament was shared by Britain’s Matthew Sadler and India’s Sahaj Grover for their highly entertaining draw in 82 moves from an unusual Queen’s Pawn Opening.

Commenti

One should also consider that these professionals need results to make their living. Leko was invited to every top tournament for a dozen years not because he was considered the most entertaining player, no one drew as many games as him and he could finish Linares with all draws. Morozevich played fun chess but was rarely invited to any of the top tournaments because his results were worse than Leko's. Radjabov hasn't been invited to Wijk the last years but with his fourth top three finish in a row here he may have secured another invitation, something that of course is very important to him.

"I honestly feel Radjabov made me 'ebbed' a bit because I deemed the last round called for a huge will- to me, it's a grand moment- a huge opportunity to wage a fight!"

Carlsen or Topalov would probably have tried to get more out of the game in a similar situation, but they may be exceptions and would still be more likely to lose with black and finish 4th than to win. Kramnik drew a must win game in 13 moves against the player that finished last in the World Championship 2007, while his must win game against Nakamura in Wijk 2011 was a few moves longer but quickly drawn in a line used when both players want a draw. The approach of Radjabov and Kramnik is probably more common than the approach of Carlsen and Topalov, especially Radjabov's when being black and facing a stronger player. But these things happen in last rounds also nowadays when chess is much less drawish than a few decades ago when Spassky could win Linares with a bunch of draws before the 15th move.

"As #5 and 2784.4 Radjabov is a player to be respected even if he doesn't try to win every game nowadays, maybe that pragmatic approach is also one of the reasons that he has improved so much on the rating list lately."

When is respect becomes synonimous with 'admire'? I have been awed by the record set by Kasparov but whenever I 'see' him flashed seemingly a jolt of arrogance, I felt the respect for him ebbs a bit. I have always admired those who reached the top 10 rank of the chess elite, Radjabov included; But in the 'context of respect' as implied above, I honestly feel Radjabov made me 'ebbed' a bit because I deemed the last round called for a huge will- to me, it's a grand moment- a huge opportunity to wage a fight!

Perhaps, the prize pot could have caused it (had he lost it, he'd placed # 4?, much lower prize)? But because I respect Radjabov, I will never dwell in this ugly assumption but nonetheless, before my eyes, his will to fight during big games seems a question mark at the moment- until he realizes in the future, he never really has to back down from a fight irrespective of what the factors are gonna be.

Nakamura drew in 11 moves with black against a much weaker opponent (that Radjabov won against with black), while Nakamura lost with black against Aronian. I think Radjabov was pragmatic more than "sad and pathetic". Nakamura preferred to draw in the opening and finish shared 5th instead of going for second place, and if he was OK with that I'm OK with it too, just like with Radjabov.

Radjabov overpressed with white against van Wely and was lucky to get a draw in the end, in the only game he really risked losing. With black against Aronian he was much more cautious and happy to draw, as everyone else would be nowadays. As #5 and 2784.4 Radjabov is a player to be respected even if he doesn't try to win every game nowadays, maybe that pragmatic approach is also one of the reasons that he has improved so much on the rating list lately.

Aronian's strategy in drawing his last game is but a pragmatic approach to win this tournament; In my opinion, it was Radjabov's choice of not using his pet KID in same game(Nakamura could have if he was in same situation); Radjabov apparently was keen ONLY on finishing the job undefeated- and not to take a shot at shared 1st place with Aronian had he beaten the latter; Attitude like this (of Radjabov) seemingly is an indication of what kind of fighting will he really has; He had the chance to fight, yet he allowed Aronian for the repetition- that's sad and pathetic! Most of the champions have the heart of giving it all WHEN IT MATTERS by event or through a grand manner requiered by the cirucumstances. What Radjabov did is perhaps an omen that he will never be world champion- he lacks heart to fight for games as big as the last round of this recently concluded tournament.

I just don't understand all the complaints. Aronian won 7 games of 13, declined Gelfand's draw offer as black, took lots of risks and won, and played the tournament of his life. Last rounds are usually peaceful, remember Wijk 2011 with all draws in the last round, most of them very quickly. Remember the Chess Olympiad Armenia won after drawing all last round games around the 10th move. Look at Nakamura drawing in 11 moves (and in 18, 21, 21, etc in earlier rounds). It isn't just to sac sac and mate with black against an Aronian that wants a draw.

I'm so sick of hearing how he shouldnt have taken the early draw. For who, the viewers? The draw gave him the win in the tourney. This is how these guys make a living. Anyone who says they wouldnt take the draw has never been in that position. At one of Pandolfini's camps when I was in highschool, I played poorly and had to take a draw. After the tournament was over, I was compaining that I had played so bad. He said but you won the tournament, I said yeah, but I dropped rating points. He said dont pay attention to rating, winning the tourney is whats important. I've taken draws in the last round just to take my class money. To win a tourney like this, I might have offered a draw every move! Aronian gave us a great tournament performance, and congrats to him for getting the quick draw and tournament win in the last game.

Great tournament.. many people don't like the 12-move draw by Aronian, but just ask yourselves.. if someone offers you the tournament win and the 10,000 euros all for yourself, wouldn't you accept it? I think it is a good decision. I would have done exactly the same thing if I was him. Even against a weaker opponent than Radjabov.

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